Stocks are in the middle of earnings season. Companies that beat their numbers are seeing a slight bump, while companies that miss are being taken to the woodshed. AMD is down 8% this morning, and Chipotle is down 14%. This has been a historical warning sign for stocks, along with declining breadth.

New Home Sales shocked to the upside, rising 19% MOM and 17% YOY to an annualized pace of 667,000. FWIW, the margin of error on these estimates out of Census is gargantuan, and building permits / housing starts have not really confirmed this data. Regardless, it is great news, if it holds up. The biggest growth was in the South, although we saw increases everywhere.

Mortgage Applications fell 4.6% last week as purchases fell 6% and refis fell 3%. Rising rates affected the numbers as well as the comparison to the holiday-shortened week previously. Overall, mortgage rates increased about 4 basis points to 4.18%. The purchase index is up 10% YOY.

Home prices rose 0.7% MOM and 6.6% YOY, according to the FHFA House Price Index.

The 10 year bond yield is trading above 2.4% – a key technical level over the past year. If it holds, it means the bond bears might have their day at last. Much of this will depend on whether we get tax reform, and what shape it takes. Republicans are supposedly releasing their tax bill on November 1.

Machinations in DC are not the only thing influencing bonds, though. Overseas strength is also playing a role here: the UK economy grew faster than expected, and German business confidence is at a high. Despite the differences between economies, sovereign debt does trade as an asset class and therefore strength and weakness overseas will flow through to our bond market.

One thing to keep in mind is that mortgage rates generally lag Treasuries. In other words, if the 10 year bond yield spikes, mortgage rates will generally take a few days to adjust. So, if you are floating and wondering whether to lock, mortgage rates will probably move up over the course of the next few days if this level holds in the 10 year. It pays to check the movements in the 10 year and the mortgage market to get an idea of where mortgage rates are headed over a day or two.

Arizona Senator Jeff Flake announced yesterday that he will not run for re-election. Republicans have a huge advantage in the Senate midterms as they are defending only a few seats while Democrats are defending a lot. There was always a rift in the Republican Party between Trump and Establishment Republicans, who were never comfortable with each other. Establishment Republicans like Corker and Flake were going to be primaried, and it appears that their constituents are further to the right than they are. Despite all the media spin, Jeff Flake was going to have a tough re-election anyway. This is nothing new: In 2010, Republicans hoped to re-take the Senate, however they ran some Tea Party types who ended up losing. The entire US electorate is becoming more polarized, which makes legislation all that more difficult, and shows the importance of controlling the regulatory agencies.

Fannie Mae is collaborating with fintech companies to launch Single Source Validation, part of its Day 1 Certainty program. Single Source Validation will augment a borrower’s credit report with data from other sources. The program is being piloted right now with Quicken. They are also working with companies to improve security and to allow lenders to get info directly from the borrower’s bank without having to scan and email statements.